A wireless non-hierarchical network, such as a mobile ad hoc network (MANET), is a collection of devices (e.g., nodes) capable of wirelessly communicating and networking. Generally, ad hoc wireless networks operate in a distributed, not-fully-connected, asynchronous, and mobile manner. Examples of ad hoc networks include wireless sensor networks, packet radio networks, and wireless mesh networks. An ideal ad hoc network provides multi-hop transmission, high mobility, self-organization, seamless handover, quality of service (QoS), and high spectrum efficiency.
In general, an ad hoc network has no central controllers, such as access points (AP) in a wide local area network (WLAN) environment or base stations (BS) as described with respect to IEEE 802.16. Therefore, nodes within an ad hoc network cannot rely on a central control architecture to provide synchronization and prevent collisions.
To address these types of issues, a node in an ad hoc network generally uses an algorithm that provides for time synchronization with other nodes. For example, the Timer Synchronization Function (TSF) specified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Working Group 802.11 provides time synchronization with errors ranging from approximately fifty microseconds to two thousand microseconds, while the Automatic Self-time-correcting Procedure (ASP) provides time synchronization with errors of approximately 100 microseconds. Such errors are undesirable, and improvements in synchronization between nodes in an ad hoc network are needed.